Our veterinary and husbandry staff have been working hard to make sure our two turtle residents, London and Olympian, are receiving the best care during their stay here at National Aquarium. When we first introduced you all to London, a Kemp’s ridley, and Olympian, a green sea turtle, they had just arrived to our care center and we had just identified their injuries. These two turtles have come quite a long way since their arrival from New Jersey!

London has been receiving daily wound treatments and antibiotics. His wounds, although healing at a slow pace, are healing properly. We’ve also seen an increase in his diet – he is now eating 75 grams of food per day, including shrimp, squid and soft-shell crab. London spends a good bit of time “hiding” in his pool, but don’t worry, this is a natural behavior. Our team has given him large half-moon cuts of thick PVC so that he can find shelter. When he is not swimming and diving, that is where you can find him.

London has been taking it easy since he arrived

Olympian, who came to us with buoyancy problems, was found to have hyper-inflated lungs which could have attributed to the difficulty diving. However, upon arrival one morning to feed the turtles, our staff found Olympian resting on the bottom of the pool! He had no problems diving to the bottom for food throughout the rest of the day and his diving continues to improve daily! Olympian is almost never found resting now that he knows he can dive again.

Olympian is starting to explore his surroundings more now that buoyancy is no longer an issue